Method of sewing a seam and product thereof

ABSTRACT

A method for sewing a seam in continuous large segmented surface material subjected primarily to forces directed inward and perpendicular to the surface and the product thereof are presented. The most severe seam stresses in a continuous segmented surface material subject to force directed inward and perpendicular to the surface are perpendicular to the applied force at the seams. The product of the present invention includes lap seams between adjacent surface segments where said seams are subject to great stress when the surface is subject to a force directed inward and perpendicular to the surface.

United States Patent Stineman 51 May 16,1972

[72} Inventor:

[54] METHOD OF SEWING A SEAM AND PRODUCT THEREOF James Scott Stineman,615 W. Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana, Calif. 92701 [22] Filed: Apr. 14,1970 21 Appl.No 28,428

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.799,806, Feb. 17,

1969, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl ..112/426, 112/440 [51] Int. Cl ..B32b 7/08 [58] Field ofSearch ..112/426, 440, 262; 2/122 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,594,503 8/1926 Fendelman ..112/426 X 2,156,231 4/1939 Stam..112/426 X 2,508,331 5/1950 Dunlap ..2/122 FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 714,358 8/1954 Great Britain ..2/122 PrimaryExaminer-Alfred R. Guest Attorney-Robert L. Sassone [57] ABSTRACT Amethod for sewing a seam in continuous large segmented surface materialsubjected primarily to forces directed inward and perpendicular to thesurface and the productthereof are presented. The most severe seamstresses in a continuous segmented surface material subject to forcedirected inward and perpendicular to the surface are perpendicular tothe applied force atthe seams. The product of the present invention in-'cludes lap seams between adjacent surface segments where said seams aresubject to great stress when the surface is subject to a force directedinward and perpendicular to the surface.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures P'ATENTEDM Y 16 m2 INVIZN'I'UR. JAMES 5.ST/NEMA/V BY ROBE/PT L. SASSO/VE ATTORNEY METHOD OF SEWING A SEAM ANDPRODUCT THEREOF This application is a continuation in part of apreviously filed Application by the same inventor of the above title,filed Feb. 17, 1969, with a Ser. No. of 799,806 now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to a method for sewing a combination comprising threeseams in continuous large surface material of a body subjected primarilyto forces against said surface directed inward and perpendicular to saidsurface.

2. Description of the Prior Art Continuous segmented surface materialsubjected primarily to force directed inward and perpendicular to thesurface have been in limited specialized use for many years. One exampleof said material is a forced air leakable container. Forced air leakablecontainers more than 50 feet high can be animated by varying the rate atwhich air is pumped therein. The seams of such a container may besubjected to a separating stress which tends to pull said seams apart.For this reason, the seams must be very strong.

There are two basic types of seams, the lap seam and the butt seam. Thelap seam is inherently much stronger than the butt seam. Accordingly,the lap seam would be more desirable for joining the segments of surfacematerial subject to a separating stress. Unfortunately, the lap seam ismore difficult to sew than the butt seam.

When large segmented surfaces are sewn together by machines, prior artmethods of sewing lap seams can be applied only with difficulty becauseof the large quantities of material which must be handled and sewn. Ifused, prior art methods require excessive amounts of labor therebygreatly increasing the costs of said large segmented surfaces. Forexample, the prior art includes methods utilizing additional material,generally having a triangular cross section, which is resewn. Theadditional material is then sewn between adjacent segments of thesurface material and internal segment dividers. Unfortunately, thesemethods require additional material, additional handling, and a largequantity of individual seams between each segment.

Seams also break because of weakness in the material sewn. Accordingly,it is an advantage to have a double thickness of material at each highlystressed seam.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method of sewing seams in continuoussegmented surface material of a body subject to forces against saidsurface directed inward and perpendicular to said surface and a productof said method are presented. The method utilizes material which may bedoubled over and is sewn together by lap seams to form a segmented body.The method simplifies the sewing of groups of seams in that no materialother than the segments required for surface material, the materialcoupling the segments and the internal segment dividers are required forsaid seams and, accordingly, the required number of individual seams isminimized.

There are two main types of seams, lap seams and butt seams. Lap seamsare inherently stronger than butt seams, but for many applications, lapseams are more difficult to sew.

A segmented forced air leakable container may be fabricated from aseries of segments each joined by sewn three seamed triangular materialto the adjacent segment and an internal segment divider. One example ofsuch a container comprises a series of long segments 38 inches wide, 25inches high and more than feet long.

Coupling material the length of the segment and above twelve inches wideis folded over so that one of the long edges is on top of the other longedge. The long edge of the top of the last segment is then caused tooverlap the two edges of the l2-inch wide material by approximately 1inch. For added strength, the edge of the segment may be folded over orunder so as to present double thickness material. The two edges of the12-inch wide material are then sewn to the edge of the segment by a lapseam.

Approximately one-third of the way down and around the 12-inch widematerial, the edges of which have been sewn together, the 12-inch widematerial is pinched together parallel to the sewn seam for a width ofabout 1 inch. The pinched together inch of the 12-inch wide material isthen caused to overlap about one inch of the edge of an internal segmentdivider. The edge of the segment divider may be folded over to form adouble thickness, greater strength, l-inch wide edge. The pinchedtogether l-inch wide thickness of the l2-inch wide material is then sewnby a lap seam to the 1-inch wide edge of the segment divider. Thesegment divider is attached to the bottom of the segmented body by meansknown to the art.

The l2-inch wide material has, at this time, been sewn by parallel lapseams to the edge of the last segment of the forced air leakablecontainer and to the top edge of the last internal segment divider ofthe forced air leakable container.

The l2-inch wide material is then pinched together along a width ofabout 1 inch parallel to the two seams previously sewn and aboutone-half the way between the two seams. One inch along the edge of thenext segment is then caused to overlap the folded together 1 inch of thel2-inch wide material. The edge of the next segment may be folded overor under to give the added strength of double thickness material. The12- inch wide material and the edge of the next segment are then sewntogether by a lap seam. When the segment is inflated with forced air,the l2-inch wide material assumes the cross sectional shape of atriangle attached to each of three adjacent pieces of material by lapseams. For most purposes, a suitable cross section of the twelve inchwide material is an equilateral triangle shaped segment coupler, asdescribed herein. For certain purposes, the segment coupler may be giventhe cross sectional shape of other triangles, geometric shapes otherthan triangles, or geometrical shapes which are a function of the forcesimpinging upon the segmented body.

An indefinite number of segments of indeterminate length can be sewntogether by the present method. The internal corner of the triangle issewn to the top surface first, thereby permitting easy access to saidmaterial by said sewing machine. The internal segment divider is thensewn to the apex of the triangle, again permitting easy access eventhough the internal comer has previously been sewn. If another segmentis to be added, the top surface of the adjacent segment is then sewn tothe exterior corner of said triangle, thereby permitting easy access forthe sewing of all individual seams. The top surface of all segments isidentical with one exception. The first edge of the top surface of theend segments is sewn only to the edge of the container by a lap seam.

While the example described herein has been described as being of aspecific size, the description of the size of the segmented body, thesegments and the l2-inch wide material connecting the segments wasincluded only to permit the reader to visualize the example. The methoddescribed herein, while it is most useful when fabricating largesegmented bodies may also be utilized to fabricate small segmentedbodies. The invention described herein may also be utilized to sewcurving seams. A particular order of sewing the seams is describedherein so that the reader might easily understand what is being done. Itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art 'that the order in which theseams are sewn may be varied.

While the two edges of the triangular shaped material are describedherein as sewn to the top of the last segment of the segmented bodies,it is obvious that the two edges of the 12- inch wide material couldeasily be sewn to the internal segment divider or the next segment.While the three edges of the internal segment divider, the previoussegment and the next segment are coupled here by a l2-inch wide piece ofmaterial, it is obvious that three 4-inch wide strips or strips of otherwidth could be used just as easily or the l2-inch wide material could bean extension of the material of either segment surface or the internalsegment divider. By using separate material not a part of any segment tocouple the several edges, however, it is relatively easy to sew eachseam through double thickness material, thereby strengthening the seam.While the DRAWING SUMMARY Reference should be made at this time to thefollowing detailed description which should be read in conjunction withthe following drawings:

FIG. 1 is a three-quarter view illustrating a continuous large segmentedsurface subjected primarily to force from the exterior normal direction;and

FIG. 2 is a side view of an example of coupling material sewn accordingto the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A segmented forced air leakable container may befabricated from a series of segments each joined by sewn three seamedtriangular material to the adjacent segment and an internal segmentdivider. One example of such a container comprises a series of longsegments 38 inches wide, 25 inches high and more than 20 feet long.Other examples have different dimensions.

Reference should be made at this time to FIG. 1 which illustrates asegmented container comprising a series of segments 12 joined togetherat a surface 13 by coupling material 14 and internal segment dividersl6. Coupling material 14 joins two adjacent segment surfaces to eachother and to an internal segment divider l6 perpendicular to the surface13 by at least three individual seams. Containers such as containers 10are particularly useful as forced air leakable containers. Segmentedcontainers 10 may be subject to a variety of forces. For certainapplications, the primary forces exerted upon a segmented surface of acontainer are from the exterior directed inward perpendicular to thesegmented surface as illustrated by force vector 18.

The force vector 18 presses down on the surface 13 of the container 10causing the segments 12 to tend to separate at the seams 14 asillustrated by stress vectors 20. if the force 18 is great, severestress is imposed on the adjacent seams 14 of the container 10 causingseparation if the seams 14 are not very strong.

There are two basic types of seams, the lap seam and the butt seam. Thelap seam is inherently much stronger than the butt seam. Accordingly,the seams joining segments 12 should be lap seams. Unfortunately, thelap seam is more difficult to sew than the butt seam and this difficultyis increased geometrically as the size of the container to be sewnincreases.

Reference should be made at this time to FIG. 2 which illustrates a sideview of one surface 30 of a three-dimensional body, said surface 30comprising two segments 34, 35 joined to an internal segment divider 36and to each other by a l2- inch wide piece of coupling material 32 whichis as long as the two segments. Two surfaces of the coupling material 32are folded together or transposed at each of the two corners 38, 46 ofthe apex 62 of the triangle. The edges 57, 58, 59 of segments 34, 35 andsegment dividers are shown doubled over or under. Doubling of materialthrough which a seam is sewn strengthens the seam. Of course couplingmaterial may be used to couple other material according to the presentinvention without doubling the edges of all or any of the material to becoupled. The doubled together coupling material is sewn to the surfacesof the segments 34,35 of the internal segment divider 36 by thread 42,54, 64 to form a lap seam 40, 48, 56 near each corner of the triangle.

The coupling material 32 is folded over so that one of the long edges 60overlaps or is on top of the other edge 61 of the coupling material. Thelong edge '57 of the top of the last segment 34 is then caused tooverlap the two edges 60, 61 of the 12-inch wide coupling material 32 byapproximately, 1 inch. Where added strength is required the edge 57 isfolded over or under so as to present double thickness material. The twoedges 60, 61 of the 12-inch wide coupling material 32 are then sewn tothe edge 57 of the segment 34 by a lap seam 40. Of course, the two edges60, 61 of the coupling material 32 may be sewn to the segment 35 or theinternal segment divider 36 if that is more convenient or some otherseam rather than the one formed from the two edges 60, 61 may be sewnfirst if that is more convenient.

Approximately one-third of the way down and around the coupling material32, the edges 60, 61 of which have been sewn together, adjacent portionsof the coupling material are pinched together or juxtaposed parallel tothe seam 40 for a width of about 1 inch which width protrudes. Thepinched together inch of the coupling material 32 is then caused tooverlap about 1 inch of the edge 58 of the internal segment divider 36.The edge of the segment divider may be folded over or under to form adouble thickness greater strength l-inch wide edge 58. The pinchedtogether protruding l-inch wide thickness of the coupling material 32 isthen sewn by a lap seam 56 to the l-inch wide edge 58 of the segmentdivider 36. The segment divider 36 may be attached to the bottom of thesegmented body 10 by any means known to the art.

An indefinite number of segments of indeterminate length can be sewntogether by the present method. If another segment 35 is to be added,the edge 59 of the segment 35 is folded under in a one inch overlap 52.The folded under overlap 52 is sewn by thread 54 to the external corner46 of the seam, coupling material 32 in an individual lap seams, 48.

- As an inwardly directed force 18 perpendicular to the surface 34 isexerted, separating stresses 20 are applied to the individual seams) and48 of the coupling material 32. Little stress is placed on theindividual seam 56 since the surface 34, 35 is pushing downward causingslack in the internal segment 36. The individual seams 40, 48 areseverely stressed by the separating stresses 20, but do not separatebecause they are lap seams, and accordingly are very strong.

The greatest stress on the seams is at the lap seams 40, 48. The forceexerted through the seam 56 is equally distributed between the seams 40,48 if the triangle formed by the seam 32 is isosceles and the angles atthe corners 38 and 46 are equal. Accordingly, an isosceles triangularcross-sectional seam 32 is as strong as an equilateral triangularcross-section seam 32. Since the force exerted through the seam 56 isvery small, the invention described herein is effective for manyapplications even if the triangular coupling material 32 is notisosceles.

An indefinite number of segments of indeterminate length can be sewntogether by the present method. The internal comer of the triangle issewn to the top surface first, thereby permitting easy 'access to saidmaterial by said sewing machine. The internal segment divider is thensewn to the apex of the triangle, again permitting easy access eventhough the internal comer has previously been sewn. If another segmentis to be added, the top surface of the adjacent segment is then sewn tothe exterior corner of said triangle, thereby permitting easy access forthe sewing of all individual seams. The top surface of all segments isidentical with one exception. The first edge of the top surface of theend segments is sewn only to the edge of the container by a lap seam.

While the example described herein has been described as being of aspecific size, the description of the size of the segmented body, thesegments and the 12-inch wide material connecting the segments wasincluded only to permit the reader to visualize the example. The methoddescribed herein, while it is most useful when fabricating largesegmented bodies may also be utilized to fabricate small segmentedbodies. The invention described herein may also be utilized to sewcurving seams. A particular order of sewing the seams is describedherein so that the reader might easily understand what is being done. Itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that the order in which theseams are sewn may be varied. While the two edges of the triangularshaped material are described herein as sewn to the top of the lastsegment of the segmented bodies, it is obvious that the two edges of the12- inch wide material could easily be sewn to the internal segmentdivider or the next segment. While the three edges of the internalsegment divider, the previous segment and the next segment are coupledhere by a l2-inch wide piece of material, it is obvious that three4-inch wide strips or strips of other width could be used just as easilyor the 12-inch wide material could be an extension of the material ofeither segment surface or the internal segment divider. By usingseparate material not a part of any segment to couple the several edges,however, it is relatively easy to sew each seam through double thicknessmaterial, thereby strengthening the seam. While the present applicationdescribes connecting l2-inch wide material which has a cross sectionsimilar to an equilateral triangle when the segmented body is inflated,more than three edges could be sewn by lap seams to the same piece ofmaterial by the method described herein and the cross section of theconnecting material could take the form of two dimensional geometricfigures, could be a function of the forces exerted upon the segmentedbody and could vary along the length of the various seams. The seam 56is described as a lap seam even though the material 36 may form a slightangle with the material of the seam 56. It is considered herein that theterm lap seam includes those seams part way between lap seams and buttseams which in their characteristics resemble lap seams more than buttseams.

The invention has been described in detail to provide a full publicdisclosure of two of the particular examples thereof. However, saiddetailed description is not intended in any way to limit the broadfeatures or principles of the invention, or the scope of the inventionclaimed. The scope of the invention is limited only by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

l. The method of making a segmented article having opposite faces anddivider members extending between said opposite faces and forming thesegments using a coupling strip between the panels forming a face of thearticle and the divider members, including the steps of providing thepanels to form the outside faces of adjacent segments;

providing a panel to form the divider member between adjacent segments;

providing a strip of material to constitute the coupling betweenadjacent face panels and the divider strip; folding the coupling stripto bring the opposite edges thereof even with one another;

folding the edge of a first face panel that is to be secured to thecoupling strip to form a first double thickness edge; placing saiddouble thickness upon the overlapping edges of said coupling strip withsaid panel and said coupling strip extending on opposite sides of theoverlap just made and sewing together said overlapped double thicknessedge of the first face panel and the edges of said coupling strip toform a first lap seam;

making a first fold in said coupling strip parallel to said first lapseam in that portion of said coupling strip which is remote from saidfirst face panel with the fold crease positioned approximately one thirdof the linear distance from one edge of said coupling edge to the other;

folding an edge of said divider member to form a second double thicknessedge;

overlapping said second double thickness edge on said first fold withsaid divider member extending away from said coupling member and sewingtogether said first fold and said second double thickness edge to form asecond lap seam;

-making a second fold in said coupling strip parallel to said first andsecond lap seams with the distance between the fold crease ust made fromthe first fold crease being equal to the distance from the first foldcrease to the proximate edge of the coupling strip;

folding the edge of a second face panel which is to be toward said firstface panel to form a third double thickness edge;

overlapping said third double thickness edge on said second fold in saidcoupling strip with said second face panel extending away from saidcoupling strip and sewing together said overlapping third doublethickness edge and second fold in said coupling strip to form a thirdlap seam;

and repeating the above steps as necessary to form the finishedsegmented article.

2. A seam uniting two adjacent face panels lying in the same plane witha transverse member angularly thereto using a coupling member to unitethe edges of said face panels and said transverse member, said seamcomprising:

a double thickness folded edge of the first face panel overlapping thealigned edges of said coupling member and sewn together in a first lapseam;

a double thickness folded edge of the second face panel overlapping afold in said coupling strip parallel to said first lap seam and spacedtherefrom, said double thickness folded edge and said fold being sewntogether in a second lap seam;

a double thickness folded edge of said transverse member overlapping asecond fold in said coupling member parallel to and spaced from saidfirst and said second lap seams, said overlapping double thickness edgeand said second fold being sewn together in a third lap seam;

each of said first and second face panels and said transverse memberextending away from said coupling member; and

the distance between said first and said third lap seams beingsubstantially equal to the distance between said second and said thirdlap seams as measured along the intervening portions of said couplingmember, whereby the cross section of said coupling member assumes theshape of an isosceles triangle.

1. The method of making a segmented article having opposite faces anddivider members extending between said opposite faces and forming thesegments using a coupling strip between the panels forming a face of thearticle and the divider members, including the steps of providing thepanels to form the outside faces of adjacent segments; providing a panelto form the divider member between adjacent segments; providing a stripof material to constitute the coupling between adjacent face panels andthe divider strip; folding the coupling strip to bring the oppositeedges thereof even with one another; folding the edge of a first facepanel that is to be secured to the coupling strip to form a first doublethickness edge; placing said double thickness upon the overlapping edgesof said coupling strip with said panel and said coupling strip extendingon opposite sides of the overlap just made and sewing together saidoverlapped double thickness edge of the first face panel and the edgesof said coupling strip to form a first lap seam; making a first fold insaid coupling strip parallel to said first lap seam in that portion ofsaid coupling strip which is remote from said first face panel with thefold crease positioned approximately one third of the linear distancefrom one edge of said coupling edge to the other; folding an edge ofsaid divider member to form a second double thickness edge; overlappingsaid second double thickness edge on said first fold with said dividermember extending away from said coupling member and sewing together saidfirst fold and said second double thickness edge to form a second lapseam; making a second fold in said coupling strip parallel to said firstand second lap seams with the distance between the fold crease just madefrom the first fold crease being equal to the distance from the firstfold crease to the proximate edge of the coupling strip; folding theedge of a second face panel which is to be toward said first face panelto form a third double thickness edge; overlapping said third doublethickness edge on said second fold in said coupling strip with saidsecond face panel extending away from said coupling strip and sewingtogether said overlapping third double thickness edge and second fold insaid coupling strip to form a third lap seam; and repeating the abovesteps as necessary to form the finished segmented article.
 2. A seamuniting two adjacent face panels lying in the same plane with atransverse member angularly thereto using a coupling member to unite theedges of said face panels and said transverse member, said seamcomprising: a double thickness folded edge of the first face paneloverlapping the aligned edges of said coupling member and sewn togetherin a first lap seam; a double thickness folded edge of the second facepanel overlapping a fold in said coupling strip parallel to said firstlap seam and spaced therefrom, said double thickness folded edge andsaid fold being sewn together in a second lap seam; a double thicknessfolded edge of said transverse member overlapping a second fold in saidcoupling member parallel to and spaced from said first and said secondlap seams, said overlapping double thickness edge and said second foldbeing sewn together in a third lap seam; each of said first and secondface panels and said transverse member extending away from said couplingmember; and the distance between said first and said third lap seamsbeing substantially equal to the distance between said second and saidthird lap seams as measured along the intervening portions of saidcoupling member, whereby the cross section of said coupling memberassumes the shape of an isosceles triangle.